In all seriousness

(and yes that is a word, I checked)

Hailey's moving up ceremony was great! Her school did a great job (as they always do). Hailey was a Bumble Bee...

And this was her small group teacher!

And here she is walking up with her classmates

And here she is giving Cade the evil eye (go Hailey)

And now Hailey will be a Frog (pre-k) she can't be really, can she? I think I blinked.

and if you missed the post before this one...you shouldn't have Click Here

You ARE the only one that matters

Here's to the Lady that blocked our view of Hailey getting her certificate today

And here's to the mom and Dad that thought this lethal weapon was an adorable idea!

I salute YOU, because You ARE the most important people in the world, and those around you really do mean nothing and I am glad I don't live my life that way.

Heading for the Hills

The girls and I are heading for the hills today. After I spill a few tears at Hailey's preschool moving up ceremony. My father is out of the country on business and "he who rather not be named" is staying home so it will just be a girls weekend! Grams, Lauren, Hailey and I! It should be a wonderful, easy weekend!

Their is a "crud" going around Lauren's school. Slightly resembling H1N1 - HIGH fevers and DEEP coughs...kids who can't lift their heads off their pillows, kids who have been sick for 8 or more days straight, teachers with Pneumonia...the hallways are filled with lost voices and coughs and kids who don't look like they should be at school. I am just hoping we can avoid this one so Hailey stays well for her surgery on Tuesday.

Anita at A wife, A woman, A mom is starting a new weekly series called The Things I do for ME! Stop by and check it out...we could all use a little ME time!

Jen over at Tater Tots and Jello is talking about things spinning out of control...and since I totally concur...

I hope some more of you can find a little time this weekend to enter the contest! You can read a chapter excerpt on Justins Blog and it just might motivate you! Lauren is half done with Go Ask Mom and she is telling stories from it every day! She is loving it!

Ok, now that I have chased you all away - into bloggy land for some good reads - I am going to get us all ready to cry, drive and relax!

Have a great weekend!

Time to go to bed

What time do you go to bed? Your kids? You know they say bedtimes are important. We have bedtimes in our house and we adjust them accordingly by age and need for sleep - however sometimes they fail us miserably.

Case 1:

Hailey -

3 years old -

Bedtime 7pm

Natural Wake Time - 6am

Hours slept per night: 9-10 (on a good night)



Case 2:

Lauren -

8 Years old -

Bedtime - 8:30

Natural wake time - 6:30 weekdays, 7:30 weekends

Hours slept per night: 10 -11



We have attemped many scenerios to increase the sleep hours to the recommended number in case #1. Though we fail, because she wakes up a lot in the night and if she sleeps even 5 minutes in the car during the day she won't fall asleep till well after 8pm. Desperately hoping her tonsils are part of this problem and a natural change will occur after her surgery!

Case #2 was ticking and rolling along just fine about about 10 days ago when she became difficult to wake on school days and no longer represented a natural wake time during the week.

Our solution? Case #2 will get a new bedtime, a bit earlier - moving to 8:00 for the rest of the school year to ensure she gets the sleep she needs and the we get the peace we need! Lauren is NOT happy about this change of events - but I am not going to spend the next 10 years dragging her butt out of bed everyday!


So - what are your bedtimes? Are they working for you?

Wordless Wednesday

Where am I and what am I doing?

Have you ever asked yourself that question? I do. But more importantly I have been asked that question a lot lately. Parent's at school, friends online, long lost friends and more. The real answer is I am here. I have a lot on my mind. Last week when Becky asked I said "I have been hiding", a couple days later another person asked and I told her "I have been hiding" and tonight on twitter Anita asked and I replied "I have been hiding". Then I laugh it off and say no no I have just been really busy. But the truth is, perhaps I am hiding. Hiding because I have put myself out there a lot lately and what if all doesn't go so well? Hiding because my house is a mess and I am too tired to care. Hiding because School is almost out for the summer and I hate that Lauren has to go back next year. Hiding because - well frankly I just prefer to hide sometimes.

So I will tell you now - this is what I have been doing. First and old great friend has finally lept into blogging ( I am so glad) and while I still have a few things on my list to do for her (like burning the feed so you can all subscribe) here she is Nikki - we were both pregnant with our first child at the same time - then she up and ditched me and moved to Iowa or was it Wisconsin either way...she had boys and I had girls... High Heels and Mud Puddles go on, visit her and leave her some comment love would ya?

As you know I also helped Justin Matott with his blog and in return he has the most amazing contest running right now and he also visited our school - it was fantastic. I am really hoping more of you get into the game and spread the word with us. The poems are fun and Justin is looking forward to spending a whole day reading the thousands of entries...OK a couple hours reading hundreds would be great!

I also have been working on a new header for Ms. Bookish - but it is not live yet so I will link to it later.

All the while, I got to teach my daughter how to do a research paper, how to edit her own rough draft and make it final since the teacher couldn't find the time. I have been playing taxi to and from Peter Pan rehearsals, making time for golf and stressing about Hailey's surgery. I keep trying to put off that stress till it gets a little closer but it creeps back in every time. Attending end of year events, figuring out summer schedules and well..doing dishes, laundry etc.

Oh I read a little too! New review on Tales tomorrow- stop by if you have time.

So I am going to stick my head back underground now, get through my list for the night and see what tomorrow brings!

What I learned this week is hosted by Jo-Lynn over at Musings of a Housewife. Jo-lynn also posted a ton of reviews on her review site this week - check them out!


It is amazing what can change in just a few minutes. I had every intention of posting this as a "weekend wrap up" post. I was busy uploading the photos to link to and everything.

Then I stepped out front with Lauren and while standing on the edge of the porch I decided I wanted to walk around a bit. To get down from where I was standing you have to cross a 2 foot rock bed. Big woop right. Right.

But when I went to JUMP I took a little pansy leap instead.

I have never looked before I lept before in my life (just ask Grams)

I took the SAFE WAY off the porch. The EASY WAY over the rocks.

I looked before I lept.

I realized it the minute I landed. I was shocked. I think I even spoke outloud what I was thinking in my head.

"Wow I must be getting old"

Damn.